Divine Service

The Sanctuary of Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Lutheran Worship may be described this way

“Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God.

Saying back to Him what He has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is His Name, which He put upon us with the water of our Baptism. We are His. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where His Name is, there is He. Before Him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim Him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words He has used to make Himself known to us.

The rhythm of our worship is from Him to us, and then from us back to Him. He gives His gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. Finally, His blessing moves us out into our calling, where His gifts have their fruition. How best to do this we may learn from His Word and from the way His Word has prompted His worship through the centuries. We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day the living heritage and something new.”

from the introduction to Lutheran Worship

Does Holy Cross offer contemporary worship or does Holy Cross have traditional services?

Worship at Holy Cross is both – and neither. Like many congregations, Holy Cross seeks to unite God’s family in worship that rises above stylistic preferences. Christian worship begins with the crucified Christ, who comes to us in Word and Sacrament. He brings to the people of God forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. We in turn extol these gifts with joyful thanksgiving and praise, proclaiming the story of God’s love through His Word.

This celebration is done in concert with the Church throughout the world, and finds its expression in the liturgy. Lutheran worship is traditional in that it is part of the timeless culture of the Church, and contemporary in that it effectively communicates the Gospel. Worship is the vocation of all baptized Christians. The Divine Service at Holy Cross is therefore designed to involve all who gather here in the name of the Lord.

Holy Cross follows the orders of service and hymns found in The Lutheran Service Book.